Rejoice:

Sermon Recap:

Imagine, if you will, a land in which a child is running through an open field. The field has a slight angle to it making a large downhill area. They have never been in a giant field before. They have only ran in the house or out on the street near their home. In their excitement they are sprinting uncontrollably (as kiddos do) and are gaining speed. They enter the downhill area and are picking up speed. They have gotten faster than they have ever been! Sprinting so fast that they cannot even tell whats on the ground on their left and right. Faster. Faster! Fastestestness!! All of a sudden they begin to lose control. Their little foot hit a patch of weeds and now they are relentlessly working to gain control of their feetskis. To no avail they tumble to the ground. *roll roll* *tumble tumble* they stop, assess the damage, with a few minor cuts on their arms from some sticks they begin to cry out “how did I end up cut?! how did I end up on the ground?! WHAT IS HAPPENING!? I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO RUN AGAIN!?”

As a parent, or a weird creepy bystander watching someone else’s kid run, you would listen to them and think, “Wow this kid is crazy. Can’t they see they have been running faster than ever before? Can’t they see they lost control when their foot hit that patch of weeds? Can’t they see that when they run that fast sometimes they may fall?”

You, my creepy friend, should stop watching people’s kids. Regardless, you are right. It would seem odd that they don’t notice theses are all natural responses to what was happening.

The point of yesterday’s sermon was this exact thing: When God gives you the ability to run faster than you ever have before, expect that you may lose control, and the enemy (those pesky weeds) will cause you to fall. Do not be shocked, and do not doubt that God could ever have you run again. Don’t give the enemy that much credit. He is a bit more active than that patch of weeds but in the same way when you are running faster than ever before (God miraculously provides) he WILL try to trip you, he WILL try to attack you, he WILL come against you as hard as possible and try to throw you into confusion and hopefully deter you from ever trying to run again.

When God miraculously provides Satan will foolishly attack, when Satan foolishly attacks DON’T start to miraculously doubt God. God is able, and has proven Himself over and over again. Don’t let the enemies foolish attack (which has consistently failed) to finally be successful. If it HAS been successful in your life, don’t let it keep being so. Stop him now, through the power of the Spirit. God is able, the enemy lame. Let’s trust God, and poke Satan in the eye. He is a loser. (p.s. you can talk smack about Satan)

Respond:

Spend 1 minute thanking God for helping you run faster than ever! Then spend 2-3 minutes asking God to help you not grow weary when you fall, and for encouragement in your direction!

Relate:

Look around, find a friend who has slipped and fallen. Remind them that they are probably running faster than ever before. They should expect even crazier falls. The faster you run the crazier you fall.